Belgium added to quarantine list

Passengers from Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas will be required to self-isolate at home or another specified address for 14 days on arrival in Scotland and the rest of the UK from Saturday.

It follows a significant increase in the number of cases of coronavirus in those countries, the Scottish Government said.

However, Brunei and Malaysia have been added to the list of destinations where travellers are exempt from the requirement to quarantine.

Speaking about the changes, Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The governments of all for nations have agreed to these changes based on a shared understanding of the data.

“This is another important step in our efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, and adhering to the quarantine is a vital aspect of this.

“Imposing quarantine requirements on those arriving from another country is not a decision made lightly - but suppressing the virus and protecting public health remains our priority.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said arrivals from Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas will have to quarantine from 4am on Saturday.

In a tweet he said: “Data shows we need to remove Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas from our list of #coronavirus Travel Corridors in order to keep infection rates down.

“If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.”

Figures show Belgium has suffered a consistent rise in cases in recent weeks, rising to 27.8 new cases per 100,000 people.

This towers over the UK’S latest rate of 8.4 and is even higher than Spain’s of 27.4 per 100,000 at around the time the UK reimposed the quarantine on arrivals from there.